
@article{Siver2016,
	title = {Are {We} {Teaching} them {Anything}?: {A} {Model} for {Measuring} {Methodology} {Skills} in the {Political} {Science} {Major}},
	volume = {12},
	issn = {1551-2169},
	shorttitle = {Are {We} {Teaching} them {Anything}?},
	url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2015.1060890},
	doi = {10.1080/15512169.2015.1060890},
	abstract = {While the literature emphasizes the importance of teaching political science students methods skills, there currently exists little guidance for how to assess student learning over the course of their time in the major. To address this gap, we develop a model set of assessment tools that may be adopted and adapted by political science departments to evaluate the effect of their own methods instruction. The model includes a syllabi analysis, evaluation of capstone (senior) papers, and a transcript analysis. We apply these assessment tools to our own department to examine whether students demonstrate a range of basic-to-advanced methodological skills. Our results support the conclusion that students at our institution are learning methodological skills, but that there is room for improvement. Additionally, the results support others’ conclusions regarding the importance of an integrative approach to methods instruction. For those in the discipline seeking to understand the effect of methods instruction on student performance, this model can be easily replicated to assess student learning.},
	number = {2},
	journal = {Journal of Political Science Education},
	author = {Siver, Christi and Greenfest, Seth W. and Haeg, G. Claire},
	month = apr,
	year = {2016},
	keywords = {Assessment, integrative approach, research methods, rubric, pedagogy},
	pages = {186--199},
	file = {Full Text PDF:files/3007/Siver et al. - 2016 - Are We Teaching them Anything A Model for Measur.pdf:application/pdf;Snapshot:files/3008/15512169.2015.html:text/html}
}

@article{Wahlke1991,
	title = {Liberal {Learning} and the {Political} {Science} {Major}: {A} {Report} to the {Profession}},
	volume = {24},
	issn = {1537-5935, 1049-0965},
	shorttitle = {Liberal {Learning} and the {Political} {Science} {Major}},
	url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/article/liberal-learning-and-the-political-science-major-a-report-to-the-profession/334FE64574A44457D387910BE0D13C98},
	doi = {10.2307/419376},
	abstract = {//static.cambridge.org/content/id/urn\%3Acambridge.org\%3Aid\%3Aarticle\%3AS1049096500052926/resource/name/firstPage-S1049096500052926a.jpg},
	language = {en},
	number = {1},
	urldate = {2019-01-02},
	journal = {PS: Political Science \& Politics},
	author = {Wahlke, John C.},
	month = mar,
	year = {1991},
	pages = {48--60},
	file = {Full Text PDF:files/3118/Wahlke - 1991 - Liberal Learning and the Political Science Major .pdf:application/pdf;Snapshot:files/3117/334FE64574A44457D387910BE0D13C98.html:text/html}
}

@article{Bos2009,
	title = {Stepping around the {Brick} {Wall}: {Overcoming} {Student} {Obstacles} in {Methods} {Courses}},
	volume = {42},
	issn = {1537-5935},
	shorttitle = {Stepping around the {Brick} {Wall}},
	url = {http://journals.cambridge.org/article_S1049096509090519},
	doi = {10.1017/S1049096509090519},
	abstract = {Many political science departments offer, and increasing numbers of them require, undergraduate research methods courses. At the same time, studies cite high levels of student anxiety about such courses. Utilizing survey data from both students who take and faculty who teach methods, we conduct an analysis that compares the barriers students and faculty independently perceive. Next, we share results from our own exploratory assessment technique, which evaluates our success in increasing student confidence with regard to conducting research. Finally, we present specific exercises and assignments which can serve as solutions to student barriers. We argue that conscious reflection as to where students lack confidence and assessment of our efforts allows instructors to approach teaching methods more effectively.},
	number = {02},
	urldate = {2015-07-09},
	journal = {PS: Political Science \& Politics},
	author = {Bos, Angela L. and Schneider, Monica C.},
	month = apr,
	year = {2009},
	pages = {375--383},
	file = {Cambridge Journals Snapshot:/Users/matthew.platt/Zotero/storage/PXMVN5XW/displayAbstract.html:text/html;Full Text PDF:/Users/matthew.platt/Zotero/storage/6IHVCSBB/Bos and Schneider - 2009 - Stepping around the Brick Wall Overcoming Student.pdf:application/pdf}
}

@article{Bernstein2013,
	title = {Overcoming {Methods} {Anxiety}: {Qualitative} {First}, {Quantitative} {Next}, {Frequent} {Feedback} {Along} the {Way}},
	volume = {9},
	issn = {1551-2169},
	shorttitle = {Overcoming {Methods} {Anxiety}},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2013.747830},
	doi = {10.1080/15512169.2013.747830},
	abstract = {Political Science research methods courses face two problems. First is what to cover, as there are too many techniques to explore in any one course. Second is dealing with student anxiety around quantitative material. We explore a novel way to approach these issues. Our students began by writing a qualitative paper. They followed with a term paper, on the same topic, that incorporated material learned in the qualitative paper with quantitative data analysis. This helps students appreciate how different methods complement one another. By starting with more familiar qualitative techniques, then moving to the quantitative, and by writing the paper in stages, we help alleviate student anxiety. Students start within their comfort zone, then move outside it once their attention has been piqued by their research question. We offer a multimethod analysis of the advantages and limitations of this approach. While not perfect, it offers another option for teaching this challenging course. We conclude by discussing how to build upon this approach in the future.},
	number = {1},
	journal = {Journal of Political Science Education},
	author = {Bernstein, Jeffrey L. and Allen, Brooke Thomas},
	month = jan,
	year = {2013},
	keywords = {research methods, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, student anxiety},
	pages = {1--15},
	file = {Snapshot:/Users/matthew.platt/Zotero/storage/ARJRIIFW/15512169.2013.html:text/html}
}

@article{Fisher2018,
	title = {Scaffolding {Assignments} and {Activities} for {Undergraduate} {Research} {Methods}},
	volume = {14},
	issn = {1551-2169},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2017.1367301},
	doi = {10.1080/15512169.2017.1367301},
	abstract = {This article details assignments and lessons created for and tested in research methods courses at two different universities, a large state school and a small liberal arts college. Each assignment or activity utilized scaffolding. Students were asked to push beyond their comfort zone while utilizing concrete and/or creative examples, descriptions, and instructor feedback. We detail an assignment where students assess a single social science article and an assignment that asks students to find examples of bad statistics. Along with the assignments, we outline some of the activities we used during class discussion. These activities include using movies and box office sales to talk about most similar and most different systems design and using an episode of the TV show 30 Rock to talk about coding and operationalization of variables. Creating a bank of engaging, ready-to-use activities and lessons for research methods is valuable for political science instructors, especially those accustomed to teaching more traditional political science courses.},
	number = {1},
	journal = {Journal of Political Science Education},
	author = {Fisher, Sarah and Justwan, Florian},
	month = jan,
	year = {2018},
	keywords = {research methods, Assignments, quantitative, scaffolding, statistics},
	pages = {63--71},
	file = {Full Text PDF:/Users/matthew.platt/Zotero/storage/5MBVUEVI/Fisher and Justwan - 2018 - Scaffolding Assignments and Activities for Undergr.pdf:application/pdf;Snapshot:/Users/matthew.platt/Zotero/storage/GATMV8TT/15512169.2017.html:text/html}
}

@article{Oldmixon2018,
	title = {“{It} {Was} {My} {Understanding} {That} {There} {Would} {Be} {No} {Math}”: {Using} {Thematic} {Cases} to {Teach} {Undergraduate} {Research} {Methods}},
	volume = {14},
	issn = {1551-2169},
	shorttitle = {“{It} {Was} {My} {Understanding} {That} {There} {Would} {Be} {No} {Math}”},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2017.1405356},
	doi = {10.1080/15512169.2017.1405356},
	abstract = {Undergraduates frequently approach research methods classes with trepidation and skepticism, owing in part to math-phobia and confusion over how methodology is relevant to their interests. These self-defeating barriers to learning undermine the efficacy of methods classes. This essay discusses a strategy for overcoming these barriers—use of a case study as a thematic framework for the class. In theory, the case study engages students and renders the material less abstract. A research methods class recently taught by the author was organized around political assassinations, with an initial framing focus the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In an end of semester Qualtrics survey, students reported that they liked this approach and believe that it kept them interested in the material.“[S]tats are dry. The Kennedys are not dry.” ∼A student},
	number = {2},
	urldate = {2019-01-05},
	journal = {Journal of Political Science Education},
	author = {Oldmixon, Elizabeth A.},
	month = apr,
	year = {2018},
	keywords = {Research methods, thematic cases, undergraduate curricula},
	pages = {249--259},
	file = {Full Text PDF:/Users/matthew.platt/Zotero/storage/WAUFDG8S/Oldmixon - 2018 - “It Was My Understanding That There Would Be No Ma.pdf:application/pdf;Snapshot:/Users/matthew.platt/Zotero/storage/2XKZFMCD/15512169.2017.html:text/html}
}

@article{Kollars2017,
	title = {Who’s {Afraid} of the {Big} {Bad} {Methods}? {Methodological} {Games} and {Role} {Play}},
	volume = {13},
	issn = {1551-2169},
	shorttitle = {Who’s {Afraid} of the {Big} {Bad} {Methods}?},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2017.1331137},
	doi = {10.1080/15512169.2017.1331137},
	abstract = {In terms of gamification within political science, some fields—particularly international relations and American politics—have received more attention than others. One of the most underserved parts of the discipline is research methods; a course that, coincidentally, is frequently cited as one that instructors hate to teach and students hate to take. Given the well-documented merits of games in promoting student engagement and the key role of methods as a building block to student understanding of political science, this article attempts to rectify this oversight by introducing three games—Zendo, Murder Mystery, and the Archeologist’s Quandary— geared at teaching key concepts and approaches in research methods.},
	number = {3},
	urldate = {2019-01-05},
	journal = {Journal of Political Science Education},
	author = {Kollars, Nina and Rosen, Amanda M.},
	month = jul,
	year = {2017},
	keywords = {Active learning, research methods, role-play},
	pages = {333--345},
	file = {Full Text PDF:/Users/matthew.platt/Zotero/storage/WCDBGZP4/Kollars and Rosen - 2017 - Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Methods Methodologica.pdf:application/pdf;Snapshot:/Users/matthew.platt/Zotero/storage/IXY4EE76/15512169.2017.html:text/html}
}


@article{Combes2018,
	title = {Targeting {Conceptual} {Understanding}: {How} to {Improve} {Learning} and {Course} {Retention} in {Research} {Methods} {Courses}},
	volume = {0},
	issn = {1551-2169},
	shorttitle = {Targeting {Conceptual} {Understanding}},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2018.1462189},
	doi = {10.1080/15512169.2018.1462189},
	abstract = {In the summer of 2015, I conducted a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) experiment in my quantitative methods for political science class. The experiment tested if, during instruction, asking conceptual questions improved student learning more than asking recall questions. This article provides evidence that instruction with conceptual questions leads to better performance on daily quizzes, but not better performance on the course final. The teaching methods of this course led to an improved retention rate, where zero students dropped the course (in a course that historically has the highest drop rate in the major). I argue that the mechanisms that lead to these successes are higher student metacognition, an enhanced ability for the instructor to identify student misconceptions, improved class discussion, and an improved growth mindset for all students.},
	number = {0},
	urldate = {2019-02-21},
	journal = {Journal of Political Science Education},
	author = {Combes, Nathan J.},
	month = aug,
	year = {2018},
	keywords = {Research methods, clickers, course retention},
	pages = {1--18},
	file = {Full Text PDF:/Users/matthew.platt/Zotero/storage/GPJXW4ML/Combes - 2018 - Targeting Conceptual Understanding How to Improve.pdf:application/pdf;Snapshot:/Users/matthew.platt/Zotero/storage/5J8QLLDT/15512169.2018.html:text/html}
}

@book{Jones2015,
	title = {Knowledge, {Power}, and {Black} {Politics}: {Collected} {Essays}},
	isbn = {978-1-4384-4908-1},
	shorttitle = {Knowledge, {Power}, and {Black} {Politics}},
	abstract = {Develops an alternative framework for describing and explaining African American politics and the American political system and applies it to a number of case studies.},
	language = {English},
	publisher = {SUNY Press},
	author = {Jones, Mack H.},
	month = jan,
	year = {2015}
}